The effect of an information ethics course on the students' information ethics values: a Kohlberg's CMD model's perspective

Abstract

Students' information ethics values (IEVs) are critical and of radical importance in achieving the above title's goal. Based on the Mason four issues of information ethics which are privacy, accessibility, intellectual property, and accuracy, (PAPA), the present study utilises Kohlberg's cognitive moral development (CMD) model to measure the improvement in the students' IEVs through an information ethics course (IEC). Therefore, this paper uses the ethical reasoning of 655 students, to recognise the power of a scenario-based survey. Meanwhile, this study employed non-parametric analytical methods to test the outcome of two groups of students that have/not have IEC training being two independent groups. This study finds that while the course improves students' 'privacy', 'accuracy' and 'intellectual property' values, however, it decreases their 'respect rules' and 'accessibility' values. Moreover, these results are analysed from learning theories (models) and from a Confucian ethics perspective (CEP). In light of these results, educators should take account of such improvements when designing effective teaching methods, and incentives, whilst considering the CEP.